Foremost Bloghttps://www.foremostmedia.com/resources/blog/posts60 second Hacks to Grow Your Business: The Best Time to Posthttps://www.foremostmedia.com/resources/blog/posts/60-second-hacks-to-grow-your-business-the-best-time-to-post?PostId=238660 Second Hacks to Grow Your Business,Social MediaTue, 14 Apr 2020 19:51:49 GMT<p>In today's <a href="https://www.foremostmedia.com/resources/blog/posts?category=60-second-hacks-to-grow-your-business">60 second hack to grow your business</a>, we will show you how to find the best time to post on Facebook!</p>
<div class="embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9" style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowfullscreen="" class="embed-responsive-item" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/407190249" width="640"></iframe></div>
<p> </p>
<p>To help increase the engagement on your Facebook post, it is beneficial to post at a time when a majority of your followers are online. To find out when that time is, you first need to go to your business page. Then, click "insights" at the top of your page. From there, click on "posts" in the left hand column. You will then be able to see trends of when your followers are usually online. Selecting this time to post will increase the chances of your followers actually seeing your post.</p>
<div>
<hr />
<h5 style="text-align: center;">What are my next Steps?</h5>
<p style="text-align: center;">If your current website is costing your company money instead of making money, let the Web marketing experts at Foremost Media take your website to the next level, contact us or learn more with these options below.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a class="btn btn-default btn-large" href="/resources/blog/posts/cid/217?category=60-second-hacks-to-grow-your-business">60 Second Hacks to Grow Your Business</a> <a class="btn btn-default btn-large" href="/resources/blog/posts/15-minutes-away-from-better-local-search-visability">Better search visibility in 15 minutes</a> <a class="btn btn-default btn-large" href="/resources/faqs">Learn about Foremost Media</a> <a class="btn btn-default btn-large" href="/services/website-development/conversion-rate-optimization">Get more conversions ... more leads!</a></p>
</div>
238660 Second Hacks to Grow Your Business: Scheduling Facebook Postshttps://www.foremostmedia.com/resources/blog/posts/60-second-hacks-to-grow-your-business-scheduling-facebook-posts?PostId=238460 Second Hacks to Grow Your Business,Social MediaFri, 10 Apr 2020 15:43:43 GMT<p>In today's <a href="https://www.foremostmedia.com/resources/blog/posts?category=60-second-hacks-to-grow-your-business">60 second hack to grow your business</a>, we will show you how to schedule Facebook posts in advance!</p>
<div class="embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9" style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowfullscreen="" class="embed-responsive-item" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/402959132" width="640"></iframe></div>
<p>Scheduling a Facebook post in advance is a great trick if you have a bunch of content and you want to space it out over time, or you know you won’t have time later to post that deal when it goes live. It’s as simple as just a few clicks!</p>
<p><span style="color:#e45025;">1.</span> Create your post as you normally would</p>
<p><span style="color:#e45025;">2. </span>Right above the blue “Share Now” button you will see a “Share Now” dropdown and select “Schedule”</p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 8pt; text-align:start; -webkit-text-stroke-width:0px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="color:#222222"><span style="font-style:normal"><span style="font-variant-ligatures:normal"><span style="font-variant-caps:normal"><span style="font-weight:400"><span style="letter-spacing:normal"><span style="orphans:2"><span style="text-transform:none"><span style="white-space:normal"><span style="widows:2"><span style="word-spacing:0px"><span style="background-color:#ffffff"><span style="text-decoration-style:initial"><span style="text-decoration-color:initial"><span style="line-height:15.6933px"><span style="font-family:Calibri, sans-serif"><img alt="" src="https://www.foremostmedia.com/Portals/0/unnamed%20(2).png?ver=2020-04-10-103500-387" style="width: 600px; height: 670px;" /> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 8pt; text-align:start; -webkit-text-stroke-width:0px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="color:#222222"><span style="font-style:normal"><span style="font-variant-ligatures:normal"><span style="font-variant-caps:normal"><span style="font-weight:400"><span style="letter-spacing:normal"><span style="orphans:2"><span style="text-transform:none"><span style="white-space:normal"><span style="widows:2"><span style="word-spacing:0px"><span style="background-color:#ffffff"><span style="text-decoration-style:initial"><span style="text-decoration-color:initial"><span style="line-height:15.6933px"><span style="font-family:Calibri, sans-serif"></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p><span style="color:#e45025;">3.</span> A window will pop up and you can either use the suggested date and time that Facebook recommends based on when your fans are most active or you can select a custom date of your choice</p>
<p><img alt="" src="https://www.foremostmedia.com/Portals/0/unnamed%20(3).png?ver=2020-04-10-103436-127" style="width: 516px; height: 567px;" /></p>
<p><span style="color:#e45025;">4.</span> Click Schedule and then you will notice the big blue button has changed to “Schedule Post”. Click it and you are all set!</p>
<p>Something to consider:</p>
<ul>
<li>The distribution schedule is a great tool to use if you are sharing content that has an expiration date such as a sale or coupon. You can set that date so your post won’t show up in people’s feeds after it expires. Just note that you can only select a time between 10 minutes and six months in the future. </li>
</ul>
<div><img alt="" src="https://www.foremostmedia.com/Portals/0/unnamed%20(4).png?ver=2020-04-10-103436-253" style="width: 531px; height: 667px;" /></div>
<div> </div>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 8pt; text-align:start; -webkit-text-stroke-width:0px"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="color:#222222"><span style="font-style:normal"><span style="font-variant-ligatures:normal"><span style="font-variant-caps:normal"><span style="font-weight:400"><span style="letter-spacing:normal"><span style="orphans:2"><span style="text-transform:none"><span style="white-space:normal"><span style="widows:2"><span style="word-spacing:0px"><span style="background-color:#ffffff"><span style="text-decoration-style:initial"><span style="text-decoration-color:initial"><span style="line-height:15.6933px"><span style="font-family:Calibri, sans-serif"></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
<div>
<hr />
<h5 style="text-align: center;">What are my next Steps?</h5>
<p style="text-align: center;">If your current website is costing your company money instead of making money, let the Web marketing experts at Foremost Media take your website to the next level, contact us or learn more with these options below.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a class="btn btn-default btn-large" href="/resources/blog/posts/cid/217?category=60-second-hacks-to-grow-your-business">60 Second Hacks to Grow Your Business</a> <a class="btn btn-default btn-large" href="/resources/blog/posts/15-minutes-away-from-better-local-search-visability">Better search visibility in 15 minutes</a> <a class="btn btn-default btn-large" href="/resources/faqs">Learn about Foremost Media</a> <a class="btn btn-default btn-large" href="/services/website-development/conversion-rate-optimization">Get more conversions ... more leads!</a></p>
</div>
238460 Second Hacks to Grow Your Business: Creating a Facebook Eventhttps://www.foremostmedia.com/resources/blog/posts/60-second-hacks-to-grow-your-business-creating-a-facebook-event?PostId=238060 Second Hacks to Grow Your Business,Social MediaTue, 07 Apr 2020 20:04:55 GMT<p>In today's <a href="https://www.foremostmedia.com/resources/blog/posts?category=60-second-hacks-to-grow-your-business">60 second hack to grow your business</a>, we will show you how to create a Facebook event.</p>
<div class="embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9" style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowfullscreen="" class="embed-responsive-item" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/402635426" width="640"></iframe></div>
<p> </p>
<p>If you've ever hosted an event for a business, you know how important it is to properly market your event. Social media is a great way to spread the word of your event.</p>
<p>Facebook has an event feature tied in with business pages that makes marketing your event extremely easy. Once you navigate to your business page, click on events in the left hand column. Once you are in the events tab, click create event.</p>
<p>Once you have opened up a new event, you can start filling in the details of your event. Be sure to add in the name, description, date and time, location, and you can even choose if it is a recurring event or one time event. We suggest adding a photo or graphic for your event as well. Make sure the size is appropriate and if you have text on the graphic that it is completely readable. If you are hosting the event with another person or company, you can add them as a co-host so they can share and market the event to their followers as well.</p>
<p>If your event requires tickets, you can add in the link or create tickets through Eventbrite. Once you have finished filling out all of the information for your event, you can click publish or save it as a draft if you're planning on revising it later. Be sure to invite your Facebook friends to the event and share it on your business page a few times before the event! </p>
<div>
<hr />
<h5 style="text-align: center;">What are my next Steps?</h5>
<p style="text-align: center;">If your current website is costing your company money instead of making money, let the Web marketing experts at Foremost Media take your website to the next level, contact us or learn more with these options below.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a class="btn btn-default btn-large" href="/resources/blog/posts/cid/217?category=60-second-hacks-to-grow-your-business">60 Second Hacks to Grow Your Business</a> <a class="btn btn-default btn-large" href="/resources/blog/posts/15-minutes-away-from-better-local-search-visability">Better search visibility in 15 minutes</a> <a class="btn btn-default btn-large" href="/resources/faqs">Learn about Foremost Media</a> <a class="btn btn-default btn-large" href="/services/website-development/conversion-rate-optimization">Get more conversions ... more leads!</a></p>
</div>
238060 Second Hacks to Grow Your Business: Increase Facebook Engagementhttps://www.foremostmedia.com/resources/blog/posts/60-second-hacks-to-grow-your-business-increase-facebook-engagement?PostId=237560 Second Hacks to Grow Your Business,Social MediaThu, 02 Apr 2020 14:30:08 GMT<p>In <a href="https://www.foremostmedia.com/resources/blog/posts?category=60-second-hacks-to-grow-your-business">today’s 60 second hack to grow your business</a>, we are going to show you how to invite people to like your page that have interacted with your Facebook post.</p>
<div class="embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9" style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowfullscreen="" class="embed-responsive-item" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/402615765" width="640"></iframe></div>
<p>If you have ever boosted a Facebook post, you probably received a lot of engagement from people who don't follow your page. These are potential customers who have shown an interest in what you are offering. So how do you capture these people so that you can continue to market to them? In today's 60 second hack to grow your business, we will show you how to invite them to like your page. It's a quick and easy process!</p>
<p><span style="color:#e45025;">1.</span> Click on the reactions on the post. <br />
<img alt="" src="https://www.foremostmedia.com/Portals/0/fbinvitestep1.png?ver=2020-04-02-092821-990" style="width: 537px; height: 129px;" /></p>
<p><span style="color:#e45025;">2. </span>You'll see a list of everyone who has interacted with that post. If they haven't liked or been invited to your page yet, you will see an invite button next to their name. Just click the button to invite them to your page.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="https://www.foremostmedia.com/Portals/0/fbsteps.png?ver=2020-04-02-092822-100" style="width: 481px; height: 467px;" /></p>
<p> It's that easy. Now, if they accept your invitation, they will see all your future updates and offers.</p>
<div>
<hr />
<h5 style="text-align: center;">What are my next Steps?</h5>
<p style="text-align: center;">If your current website is costing your company money instead of making money, let the Web marketing experts at Foremost Media take your website to the next level, contact us or learn more with these options below.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a class="btn btn-default btn-large" href="/resources/blog/posts/cid/217?category=60-second-hacks-to-grow-your-business">60 Second Hacks to Grow Your Business</a> <a class="btn btn-default btn-large" href="/resources/blog/posts/15-minutes-away-from-better-local-search-visability">Better search visibility in 15 minutes</a> <a class="btn btn-default btn-large" href="/resources/faqs">Learn about Foremost Media</a> <a class="btn btn-default btn-large" href="/services/website-development/conversion-rate-optimization">Get more conversions ... more leads!</a></p>
</div>
237560 Second Hacks to Grow Your Business: Grow Your LinkedIn Audiencehttps://www.foremostmedia.com/resources/blog/posts/60-second-hacks-to-grow-your-business-grow-your-linkedin-audience?PostId=237160 Second Hacks to Grow Your Business,Social MediaMon, 30 Mar 2020 14:12:47 GMT<p>In today's <a href="https://www.foremostmedia.com/resources/blog/posts?category=60-second-hacks-to-grow-your-business">60 second hack to grow your business</a>, we are going to teach you how to grow your company LinkedIn page followers by inviting your personal connections to follow your company page.</p>
<div class="embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9" style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowfullscreen="" class="embed-responsive-item" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/401101874" width="640"></iframe></div>
<p>Inviting people to follow your company page on LinkedIn is quite easy and often overlooked by companies. To invite your connections to follow your company page:</p>
<p><span style="color:#e45025;">1.</span> Log into LinkedIn and navigate to your company page.</p>
<p><span style="color:#e45025;">2.</span> On the left-hand side of the screen is an analytics box. Click on the link that says "invite connections to follow".</p>
<p><img src="https://www.foremostmedia.com/Portals/0/Images/Blog/Link-example.jpg?ver=2020-03-30-091742-977" alt="screenshot of Foremost Media's LinkedIn page"/></p>
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<p><span style="color:#e45025;"></span><span style="color:#e45025;"></span><span style="color:#e45025;"></span><span style="color:#e45025;"></span><span style="color:#e45025;"></span><span style="color:#e45025;"></span><span style="color:#e45025;"></span><span style="color:#e45025;"></span><span style="color:#e45025;"></span><span style="color:#e45025;"></span><span style="color:#e45025;"></span><span style="color:#e45025;"></span><span style="color:#e45025;"></span><span style="color:#e45025;"></span><span style="color:#e45025;"></span><span style="color:#e45025;"></span><span style="color:#e45025;"></span><span style="color:#e45025;">3.</span> A pop-up screen will show you all of your connections that are not following your company page. Select up to 25 connections to invite by clicking the checkbox next to their pictures.</p>
<p><span style="color:#e45025;">4.</span> Scroll down and to the left after selecting your connections and click on the invite connections box.</p>
<h3><span style="color:#e45025;">A few other things to remember:</span></h3>
<ul>
<li>You must be a company page admin in order to invite connections to like your LinkedIn company page in the method described above.</li>
<li>At the time this was published, LinkedIn is only allowing you to invite up to 25 connections per day, so make sure to keep repeating the steps above daily until all your connections have been invited.</li>
</ul>
<div>
<hr />
<h5 style="text-align: center;">What are my next Steps?</h5>
<p style="text-align: center;">If your current website is costing your company money instead of making money, let the Web marketing experts at Foremost Media take your website to the next level, contact us or learn more with these options below.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a class="btn btn-default btn-large" href="/resources/blog/posts/cid/217?category=60-second-hacks-to-grow-your-business">60 Second Hacks to Grow Your Business</a> <a class="btn btn-default btn-large" href="/resources/blog/posts/15-minutes-away-from-better-local-search-visability">Better search visibility in 15 minutes</a> <a class="btn btn-default btn-large" href="/resources/faqs">Learn about Foremost Media</a> <a class="btn btn-default btn-large" href="/services/website-development/conversion-rate-optimization">Get more conversions ... more leads!</a></p>
</div>
2371The Importance of Local SEO & How to Grow a Social Media Followinghttps://www.foremostmedia.com/resources/blog/posts/the-importance-of-local-seo-how-to-grow-a-social-media-following?PostId=1362General,Local SEO,Online Advertising,Search Engine Optimization,Social MediaTue, 22 Oct 2019 15:15:00 GMT<p>Having an online presence for your business is extremely important. A study conducted by Market Force found that 81% of consumer’s purchasing decisions are influenced by social media posts. Being active on social media will keep your current followers engaged and will grab the attention of potential followers. Taking advantage of Google My Business, using social media tools, and posting relevant content will increase your followers and help to grow your business. </p>
<h2>Google My Business</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.google.com/business/" target="_blank">Google My Business</a> (GMB) is a free service through Google that allows business owners to keep updated information on their business. It is essentially the Yellow Pages of Google. When a business is searched on Google, this is all of the information that shows up about the business. It displays the business name, hours, location, reviews, and photos. GMB is a good place for business owners to start optimizing their local SEO. It is important to fill out all of the information in the profile. The more information, the higher the business will be on the search rankings. Make sure to take advantage of the GMB app once the account is up and running, so you can continue to keep the information up to date and view the analytics and insights of your listing. </p>
<h2>Get Reviewed!</h2>
<p>Google places value on "social proof". Getting positive reviews on your business is a clear signal to search engines that your business is trusted. There are some automated strategies for <a href="/resources/blog/posts/3-online-review-donts-and-a-few-maybes">getting Google My Business reviews</a>, though reaching out to individuals gives it a more personal touch.</p>
<h2>Social Media Tools</h2>
<p>Some business owners may be intimidated by social media or are unsure of where to start. There are many tools out there to make it easier. Within Facebook, there are tools that allow you to schedule posts in advance. You can also see the insights of your posts, and even create paid ads and boost posts that will help increase your views. Additionally, <a href="https://hootsuite.com/" target="_blank">Hootsuite</a> is another social media tool that helps to manage multiple social media accounts all in one place. With Hootsuite, you can schedule posts for multiple social media platforms, and can view the activity and interact with followers by responding to comments, mentions, etc. Hootsuite makes everything accessible and organized in one location. They even offer resources such as blogs and educational courses and certifications to help users get started.</p>
<h2>Relevant Content</h2>
<p>Posting relevant content on your social platforms is a necessity. Content is what engages your followers. Make sure to keep personal information off of your business page. Posting about a new certification you earned is relevant, showing off your brand new boat is not. Making sure to use the correct platforms for your business is also essential. Twitter must be updated 10+ times daily to get exposure due to the algorithm and volume of content being posted in a feed. Instagram is very visual, so if you can post appealing photos, it would be beneficial to use. You must make sure the platforms are worthwhile for your business. Planning content ahead of time is the easiest way to manage your social media platforms. For instance, if you own a coffee shop, consider posting a featured drink on Mondays, or use Fridays for posting a funny meme about coffee. Social media marketing is a lot of trial and error. See what gets a lot of engagement, and use what works for your business!</p>
<div>
<hr />
<h5 style="text-align: center;">What are my next Steps?</h5>
<p style="text-align: center;">If your current website is costing your company money instead of making money, let the Web marketing experts at Foremost Media take your website to the next level, contact us or learn more with these options below.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a class="btn btn-default btn-large" href="/services/online-marketing/local-seo-for-businesses">Local SEO For Businesses</a> <a class="btn btn-default btn-large" href="/services/online-marketing/social-media-marketing">Social Media Marketing For Business</a> <a class="btn btn-default btn-large" href="/resources/blog/posts/google-reviews-the-best-defense-is-a-good-offence">How to Get More Reviews</a> <a class="btn btn-default btn-large" href="/resources/tools/google-review">Google Review Link Generator</a> <a class="btn btn-default btn-large" href="/services/online-marketing/search-engine-optimization">What is SEO?</a></p>
</div>
1362What is remarketing and how does it work?https://www.foremostmedia.com/resources/blog/posts/what-is-remarketing?PostId=1348Local SEO,Online Advertising,Search Engine Optimization,Social MediaFri, 26 Apr 2019 17:14:00 GMT<p>Have you ever been to the Home Depot website to look at a lawn mower and then realized that every ad you see on the internet is about Home Depot and their fine selection of lawn mowers? That’s not a coincidence, it’s remarketing.</p>
<p>Remarketing allows companies to follow you around the web with ads based on your behavior, in hopes that you will come back to their site and complete a purchase or request a quote.<br />
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</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Home Depot Advertisements remarketed on newspaper website" src="/portals/0/Images/Blog/remarketing-images.jpg?ver=2019-04-26-084202-113" /><br />
<em>
Milwaukee Journal Website with Remarketed Home Depot Advertisement</em></p>
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<p>Google and Bing both have robust remarketing programs, as does Facebook and LinkedIn. Remarketing is also commonly called “retargeting” depending on the platform but is basically the same thing. Each platform requires you to add a tracking code to your website, called a tag or a pixel, to identify what visitors are looking at. It also writes a cookie in their browser that allows you to serve up the ads as your past site visitors watch Youtube videos, read news articles, view social media sites, etc.<br />
<br />
One of the more powerful features of remarketing is that you can tailor your ads based on customer behavior. For example, if you <a href="/services/website-development/e-commerce">run an e-commerce store</a> that sells children's clothes, you can create a marketing campaign for visitors that view the winter coat category but didn’t reach your checkout page and purchase your product. Advertising campaigns such as this, will then show these specific visitors ads about your winter coats. The beauty in this is that you already know they are looking for a winter coat, so the ad could offer a discount code or free shipping if they come back and complete the purchase.</p>
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<p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="graphic of coins accumulating near a laptop" src="/portals/0/Images/Blog/clicks-and-impressions%20(1).jpg?ver=2019-04-26-104043-130" style="text-align: center;" /></p>
<h2>Clicks and Impressions</h2>
<p style="text-align: left;">Each time your ad is shown to a customer, that is considered an impression. However, with remarketing programs, you typically only pay when someone clicks on your ad and returns to your website. Remarketing campaigns can be quite economical, especially if the campaign is highly targeted to a specific product or product category. The added benefit of a Pay-Per-Click (PPC) remarketing campaign is that those impressions help you build top-of-mind awareness with customers because they are seeing your brand and ads.</p>
<h2>
What does it cost to run a remarketing campaign?</h2>
<p>
One of the best features of remarketing and PPC campaigns is the ability to control the budget. When you set up the campaign, you set an overall budget, then you bid on what you’re willing to pay per click within that budget. Now, back to our coat example: let's say you have a budget of $200 per month for your kids coat remarketing campaign. As of April 2019, most of our Google remarketing campaigns are averaging around $.20 per click, so with your $200 budget, you would be able to return (Get clicks from) around 1,000 customers to your site and get thousands of free impressions. In addition to setting a monthly budget limit, you can further control costs by setting frequency capping and geo targeting. You can also stop showing ads when prospects convert to buyers.</p>
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<p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="graphic of coins dropping into piggy banks" src="/portals/0/Images/Blog/Why-Should-I-Consider%20(1).jpg?ver=2019-04-26-104043-020" style="text-align: center;" /></p>
<h2>
Why Should I Consider Remarketing In My Advertising Mix?</h2>
<p>
Dollar for dollar, <a href="/services/online-marketing/paid-search-marketing">remarketing is one of the most cost effective marketing strategies</a> you can implement. Recent studies have shown that around 3% of first time visitors to a site are likely to buy on their first visit. That means 97% of your first time visitors are lost unless you can find a way to get them back to your store. Remarketing allows you to stay connected to your prospects even after they leave your site. A remarketing campaign offers a subtle reminder to your prospects to come back and finish what they’ve started. You will also build more trust in your brand as you continue to gain impressions for your product.</p>
<br />
<hr />
<br />
<h5 style="text-align: center;">What are my next Steps?</h5>
<p style="text-align: center;">If your current website is costing your company money instead of making money, let the Web marketing experts at Foremost Media take your website to the next level, contact us or learn more with these options below.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">
<a class="btn btn-default btn-large" href="/services/online-marketing/paid-search-marketing">More on Paid Search Marketing</a>
<a class="btn btn-default btn-large" href="/services/online-marketing/search-engine-optimization">Get Ranked! Learn about SEO</a>
<a class="btn btn-default btn-large" href="/our-work/manufacturing">Advanced Solutions for Manufacturing Websites</a>
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<a class="btn btn-default btn-large" href="/Portals/0/landing-pages/online-marketing/ManufacturingEbook.html">Download- Manufacturer’s Ultimate Guide To Website Redesign</a></p>
<br />
<p> </p>1348Using UTM Parameters to Capture Lead Sourcehttps://www.foremostmedia.com/resources/blog/posts/using-utm-parameters-to-capture-lead-source?PostId=1344Conversion Rate Optimization,General,Online Advertising,Search Engine Optimization,Social MediaFri, 19 Apr 2019 18:16:00 GMT<p>UTM parameters are tags you add to a URL. Marketers use them to be able to track traffic from a wide range of sources such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, email, display ads, paid ads and more. These specific UTM tags are sent back to Google Analytics and can track stats such as users, sessions, time on site, number of pages, bounce rate, conversions/goals from those campaigns. These metrics help see the effectiveness of the campaigns and which campaigns are driving the most conversions and assisting in the most conversions.</p>
<h5>The five UTM parameters that Google Analytics can register are:</h5>
<ol>
<li>Utm_source (google, facebook, linkedin, youtube, pinterest, etc)</li>
<li>Utm_medium (post, pin, cpc etc)</li>
<li>Utm_campaign (name of campaign or specific promotion)</li>
<li>Utm_term (used for text ads to tell you which keyword)</li>
<li>Utm_content (used to differentiate ads)</li>
</ol>
<p>You might already be using UTM parameters to track your marketing campaigns in Google Analytics, but are you capturing that information when a lead comes into your database such as through a purchase, contact form or whitepaper? Capturing this data is crucial in order to asses the ROI of your marketing campaign as you can now associate customers with their perspective campaign. This also happens to be a lead management best practice.</p>
<p>Another reason we like to use UTM parameters is because of the campaign details they give us in Google Analytics. This is especially helpful in seeing multichannel funnels. Multi-channel funnels track conversion paths and the campaigns that a user interacted with along the way before they did a conversion action. This is important because companies might not be realizing that certain channels are getting users into the buying cycle or are just starting to research a product or service. These streams might not show a lot of last click conversion but they are assisting in the conversion (which makes them important).</p>
<p><img alt="" src="/Portals/0/Images/Blog/assisted%20conversions%20image.JPG?ver=2019-04-10-144440-410" /></p>
<p>From the images, one of our companies was able to start attributing YouTube video data to actual conversions because they are now able to see how many users are coming to their site from their YouTube channel and also the leads that are coming in and associate names with them. This data is showing them that their YouTube channel is really an important media stream. Since using UTM parameters, we have been able to see which channels are engaging users at different stages of the buying cycle and work on new messaging to increase these conversions. There is a lot of valuable information in Google Analytics under the Multi-Channel Funnels tab. You can even narrow down multi-channel funnels with a conversion action you have set up, such as phone calls or contact form fills.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="/Portals/0/Images/Blog/top%20conversion%20path%20part%201.png?ver=2019-04-10-144440-503" /></p>
<p><img alt="" src="/Portals/0/Images/Blog/top%20conversion%20path%20part%202.png?ver=2019-04-10-144440-567" /></p>
<p>Have questions regarding the value of capturing UTM parameters and tracking campaign performance? Give us a call to see how we can help you today.</p>1344WHAT ARE UTM PARAMETERS? WHY ARE THEY IMPORTANT? AND HOW DO YOU IMPLEMENT THEM?https://www.foremostmedia.com/resources/blog/posts/what-are-utm-parameters?PostId=1338Conversion Rate Optimization,General,Inbound Marketing,Online Advertising,Search Engine Optimization,Social MediaMon, 03 Dec 2018 17:02:00 GMT<p>Have you ever run a campaign and wondered how effective it was at driving traffic to your website? You did append UTM tags to the links in the campaign, didn’t you? If not, Google Analytics reports will not contain the data you need to measure campaign performance. </p>
<p>That’s why UTM codes (also known as UTM tags or UTM parameters) are so important.</p>
<h2>UTM Parameters: What Are They?
</h2>
<p>UTM parameters are attributes you append to hyperlinks (destination URLs) for marketing campaigns sending traffic to your website. When the link is clicked and the visitor arrives on your site, tags are sent back to your Google Analytics Account and appear in your Analytics metrics.
</p>
<p>Here is a sample link we could use when this blog is shared in an email blast; the UTM parameters are appended to the URL)<strong>:
https://www.foremostmedia.com/?utm_source=act-on&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=october2018newsletter&utm_content=linkclick
</strong></p>
<h2>Why Use Them?
</h2>
<p>Failure to append UTM tags to hyperlinks will do more than simply hinder your ability to do effective campaign analysis.
</p>
<p>Without UTM codes, Google Analytics might register that the link a user clicked was from an email blast, but it certainly will not be able to tell you which campaign a user came from. It is important to note this does not just apply to email marketing. This applies to any link you create that is sending users back to your website including; a Facebook post, Facebook Ad, LinkedIn post, LinkedIn Ad, a tweet, YouTube video descriptions, PDF documents and so much more.
</p>
<h2>The Five UTM Parameters Available for Campaign Tracking in Google Analytics
</h2>
<p>Before discussing how to create the UTM parameter tags, let’s first look at the five parameters available.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="/Portals/0/5%20utm%20parameters.png?ver=2018-11-26-125342-083" /></p>
<p> </p>
<h2>Easiest Method to Add UTM Parameters to URLs
</h2>
<p>You can manually append UTM parameters to URLs, but it’s much easier to use Campaign URL Builder. Just fill in the form, click “Copy URL”, and the tagged URL will be copied for you to use in your digital materials.
</p>
<h2>Where To View Campaign Data
</h2>
<p>You can view campaign data in Google Analytics via Acquisitions > Campaigns > All Campaigns. Click on each Campaign Name (which corresponds to the utm_campaign parameter in your UTM-tagged URLs) to see which links are generating traffic.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="/Portals/0/all%20campaigns.png?ver=2018-11-26-125342-177" /></p>
<p> </p>
<h2>A few tricks and tips:</h2>
<h3>1. Garbage In, Garbage Out</h3>
<p>Keep track of the UTM parameters that you’ve used in the past and keep your labeling system as consistent as possible. Make sure all tags are human-readable. </p>
<p>We recommend using lowercase letters as the campaign name is case sensitive in Google’s eyes. Facebook and facebook are two different terms even though they’re spelled the same.</p>
<h3>3. No Need to Tag AdWords URLs (Optional)</h3>
<p>
</p>
<p>Google strongly recommends that users use auto-tagging and link Google Analytics with Google AdWords. If this is done, there is no need to (UTM) tag AdWords URLs. With the accounts linked, Google automatically tags AdWords campaigns and imports all AdWords campaign data into Google Analytics. I would argue this case if you are looking to capture these UTM parameters from a contact form submission or newsletter signup. If you do not tag Google Ads you would only be able to capture the GCLID and would not get any keyword information. You can upload GCLID information back into Google Ads, but it can be time consuming. It is also important to capture this information in contact forms because you can start to attribute ROI to each campaign that you run.</p>
<h3>4. Never Use UTM Parameters to Track Links Inside Your Own Website</h3>
<p>
</p>
<p>Do not use UTM parameters to track clicks on links within your website. Doing so will cause Google Analytics to restart the session for the same visitor, causing the visit to be double-counted with new referrer information. Additionally, you will be unable to trace any subsequent transactions or goal completions to the original referring source and/or medium.
</p>
<h2>Where To Go Next?
</h2>
<p>So now that you have UTM parameters working for you and helping you show campaign performance, the next step is to capture those URL parameters. You might be asking how we capture those URL parameters. Read our next blog about storing those URL parameters and getting them to submit with; a contact form, newsletter signup or anything that allows a user to submit information.</p>1338Top 5 Takeaways About Giveaways on Social Mediahttps://www.foremostmedia.com/resources/blog/posts/top-5-takeaways-about-giveaways-on-social-media?PostId=1336Social MediaMon, 26 Nov 2018 20:37:00 GMT<p>
There&rsquo;s a lot of information shared on social media. So, your message needs to stand out in a crowd to be successful. In&nbsp;<a href="https://www.semrush.com/webinars/socila-chat-5-the-season-to-give-tips-on-how-to-host-giveaways-on-social-media/">a webinar hosted by SEMRush</a>,&nbsp;social media experts highlighted key points to consider <strong>before, during, and after you launch a giveaway on social media.</strong></p>
<h2>1. Do it well.</h2>
<p>A good giveaway involves more than just getting a &ldquo;like&rdquo; or a &ldquo;follow&rdquo;. A good giveaway actively involves your social media audience. Invite them to do something interactive such as take a selfie with your product or share a story. This is called user-generated content, and it is social gold.</p>
<h2>2. Have realistic goals from the beginning.</h2>
<p>Your first step is to determine what you want your giveaway to do for you. A good goal could be to attract like-minded followers who will convert to a purchase or another business goal. Another good goal might be to drive more traffic to your website. A not-so-good goal is to simply get more followers. Hosting a contest for the sole purpose of getting more followers is like the kid on the playground who hands out candy to get other kids to play with him. These kinds of followers are not quality followers; they&rsquo;ll leave as soon as the candy/giveaway is gone. By the way, you can expect about 25% of your new followers to unlike and unfollow you after the contest is over. This is normal.</p>
<h2>3. Use the right social network.</h2>
<p>The members of the SEMRush webinar panel agreed that Instagram is the current hot platform for hosting a giveaway. Facebook is also a good platform&hellip; if you can work around its many rules for running a contest.
<br />
Once you choose your platform, use all your other social media to promote it and drive traffic to your main platform of choice.</p>
<h2>4. Make a marketing plan.
<p>Determine the goals of your giveaway.
<br />
Map out the tactics to carry out the giveaway.
<br />
Set benchmarks to measure how well the giveaway is progressing.</p>
</h2>
<h2>5. Don&rsquo;t drag it out too long.</h2>
<p>Google says two weeks is a good length of time for a standard social media giveaway. The SEMRush panelists agreed a contest that lasts for several months is too long, however, they also agree that a longer contest that creates user engagement (see #1 on this list) are far better than a short, one-off giveaway.</p>
<h2>Other helpful tips for a successful social media contest:</h2>
<ul>
<li>
Once your contest begins and entries start rolling in, share the user-generated content (social gold!) in your on-going promotion of the giveaway.
</li>
<li>
<p>Follow up on your giveaway. Let your contestants know that a prize was actually awarded. Post a picture or video of the winner accepting the prize. Done well, the contestants who won nothing will still get a positive experience watching someone else be happy.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>More Social Media Marketing Tips:</h3>
<p><a href="https://www.foremostmedia.com/resources/blog/posts/5-things-to-consider-before-publishing-new-content?PostId=1051">5 Things to Consider Before Publishing New Content</a><br />
<a href="https://www.foremostmedia.com/resources/blog/posts/staying-ahead-of-the-seo-game?PostId=1066" style="font-family: roboto-light, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: 0px; background-color: #ffffff;">Integrate Email Marketing with Your Social Media</a><br />
<a href="https://www.foremostmedia.com/resources/blog/posts/are-you-getting-the-most-from-your-pinterest-account?PostId=1059" style="font-family: roboto-light, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: 0px; background-color: #ffffff;">Are You Getting the Most from Your Pinterest Account?</a></p>1336Google Reviews - The Best Defense is A Good Offensehttps://www.foremostmedia.com/resources/blog/posts/google-reviews-the-best-defense-is-a-good-offence?PostId=1323General,Local SEO,Reputation Management,Social MediaThu, 11 Oct 2018 19:43:14 GMT<p>No matter how hard you try, sooner or later your business will face a negative online review.&nbsp; Former employees, competitors, or unreasonable customers all have instant access to leave unwarranted feedback about your business. It's time to get proactive about collecting positive online reviews in preparation for drowning out that occasional negative review.</p>
<p>So what is a business owner to do? Go on the offense and generate an avalanche of positive reviews. A good rule of thumb is that it takes about ten positive reviews to offset one negative review. I know <span style="color: #393939;">this sounds like a lot of work </span>for a B2B business that doesn't generate a lot of reviews organically. But if you follow the steps below, you should be able to get this done in an hour or less, and the return on investment is great!</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><img alt="" src="/Portals/0/Images/resources/blog/writing-letter.jpg?ver=2018-10-16-145439-630" /></p>
<h2>1. Craft a letter to your personal contacts</h2>
<p>Here is one that I used:
<br />
<span style="color: #393939;">&ldquo;Subject- Need Your Help or Big Favor&rdquo; (Both Worked Well For Me)
</span></p>
<p>Hi Tim,</p>
<p>I have a huge favor to ask. We've been working really hard to build our Google reviews as it is becoming one of the factors Google and other search engines are using to rank our business. I know this is a lot to ask, but I would be really grateful&nbsp;if you could you could take 60 seconds and write a quick positive review for me on Google: Use our <a href="https://www.foremostmedia.com/resources/tools/google-review">5 Star Google Review Link Generator</a> to get a Direct Link To Your Reviews.and/or Facebook:&nbsp; <a href="https://www.facebook.com/foremostmediausa">https://www.facebook.com/foremostmediausa</a>/ (Note, Facebook is now calling these recommendations)</p>
<p>The review doesn't have to be real in depth but anything will help. I'd be happy to return the favor as well.</p>
<p>Jon</p>
<p>Be sure to replace the links above with your own links to your properties. Foremost Media can get those links for you, if you need help.</p>
<br />
<br />
<p><img alt="" src="/Portals/0/Images/resources/blog/email-associates.jpg?ver=2018-10-16-145520-147" /></p>
<h2></h2>
<h2>2. Now that you have the letter written...</h2>
<p> Go through your email contact list and find 30-40 customers, suppliers, or vendors that you know will give you a good review, and send them the email above. Don&rsquo;t do this with your email marketing software; <span style="color: #393939;">send each email separately.</span> It needs to be a personal note from you.</p>
<p>
One other important note about Facebook - If you're asking people to leave reviews for you on Facebook, it&rsquo;s important to make sure the ability to leave reviews is turned on for your page.&nbsp; Please review the instructions below to ensure that the feature is enabled:<br />
1. Navigate to the settings tab of the Page.&nbsp;<br />
2. Under general settings click edit on the reviews section<br />
3. Edit the option to "Allow visitors to review this Page" or "Disable reviews"<br />
4. Click save changes after making the selection</p>
<p>That's really all there is to it. If you have other team members in your office that have good customer relationships, have them do the same thing. In addition to the mitigation of future negative reviews, positive reviews are&nbsp;becoming a quality signal to Google for more than just local search and can even be pulled into things like AdWords campaigns, etc.</p>
<p>If you like what you've read here, do me a big favor and leave us a positive review on Google by following this link:&nbsp;<a href="https://goo.gl/emCYvq">https://goo.gl/emCYvq</a></p>
<p>Thanks for reading this and I hope it helps you.</p>
<hr class="no-top-marg" />
<h5 class="text-center">What are my next steps?</h5>
<p class="text-center">If your current website is costing your company money instead of making money, let the Web marketing experts at Foremost Media take your website to the next level, contact us or learn more with these options below.</p>
<ul class="link-list">
<li><a href="https://www.foremostmedia.com/resources/tools/google-review">Google Review Link Generator</a></li>
<li class="sep">|</li>
<li><a href="/services/website-development/dnn-consulting-development/dnn-sample-sites">Web Design Portfolio</a></li>
<li class="sep">|</li>
<li><a href="/services/online-marketing/search-engine-optimization">Search Engine Optimization</a></li>
<li class="sep">|</li>
<li><a href="/services/website-development/e-commerces">E-commerce Solutions</a></li>
<li class="sep">|</li>
<li><a href="/contact">Contact Us</a></li>
</ul>1323Drive The Right Traffic To Your Website: Poor Marketing Could Be Costing Youhttps://www.foremostmedia.com/resources/blog/posts/poor-marketing-could-be-costing-you-how-to-drive-the-right-traffic-to-your-site?PostId=26Inbound MarketingMarketing Automation,Online Advertising,Search Engine Optimization,Social MediaMon, 28 Nov 2016 19:54:00 GMT<p>It&rsquo;s pretty exciting once you&rsquo;ve made the decision to invest in a new website or redesign your current one. But simply having a shiny new website isn&rsquo;t enough to guarantee success. You still need to figure out how to get your existing customers and prospects to visit your new website.</p>
<p>So how do you make sure you&rsquo;re getting the right traffic to your website?</p>
<p>
<h5>Social Media Marketing</h5>
</p>
<p>Social media marketing is more than simply creating a company Facebook page or Twitter account. It&rsquo;s about communicating directly with your target demographic on their preferred social media platform in a way they are receptive to. Effective social media marketing helps you create better brand awareness and customer loyalty by providing clients and prospects with content that is relevant to them, establishing your company as an authority in your industry and an indispensable resource for your customers.</p>
<p>
<h5>Email Marketing</h5>
</p>
<p>Email marketing is a great way to re-engage with your existing customers. Today&rsquo;s leading B2B manufacturers send emails to promote their new products and sales or inform clients internal changes within the company. Email marketing campaigns provide you with valuable insight into how many of your customers or prospects open your email, visit your website from links in the email and make purchases or request quotes after receiving the email. You can analyze and use this information to create new email marketing campaigns to effectively engage your audience.</p>
<p>
<h5>Search Engine Optimization (SEO)</h5>
</p>
<p>Search engines such as Google, Bing and Yahoo are display organic search results in order of how relevant the websites are to the keyword or query the user searched for. In order for your website to rank highly and display on the first on search engine results pages (SERPs), it needs to be optimized. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) ensures your website meets the criteria that today&rsquo;s search engine require for your website to rank above your competitors for the information and keywords that your customers and prospects search for to find you. SEO will help you capitalize on your organic search traffic and deliver you a better return-on-investment (ROI).</p>
<p>
<h5>Paid Search Marketing</h5>
</p>
<p>In addition to organic search results, Google and Bing also offer paid search ads. Paid search ads are displayed above and below organic search results on the SERPs. Paid search marketing enables you target and bid on the keywords and search queries that your customers and prospects are searching for and displays ads that appeal directly to them to choose you over competitors. In this way, paid search marketing drives more traffic to your website from visitors who have the express intent of purchasing or requesting a quote.</p>
<p>But how do you know which online marketing strategy is the most effective?</p>
<p>Our team of online marketing specialists can help you sift through and analyze your website traffic data to determine which online marketing channel, (organic, paid, social media referral, etc.), is your top traffic driver and identify areas of opportunity. Whether you&rsquo;re seeking to establish an online marketing plan for the first time or are seeking ways to improve upon the effectiveness of your existing online marketing strategy, Foremost Media can help you develop and implement a game plan to increase traffic to your website and achieve your digital marketing goals.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"> <a href="/contact" class="btn btn-default btn-large">Let's Have A Conversation</a></p>
<br />
<br />
<h3>More Digital Marketing Tips:</h3>
<p><a href="https://www.foremostmedia.com/resources/blog/posts/seo-success-what-should-you-be-tracking?PostId=1321">SEO Success: What Should You Be Tracking?</a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.foremostmedia.com/resources/blog/posts/infographic-where-to-look-for-your-target-market?PostId=24">Where to Look for Your Target Market</a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.foremostmedia.com/resources/blog/posts/the-benefits-of-pay-per-click-marketing?PostId=1107">The Benefits of Pay-Per-Click Marketing</a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.foremostmedia.com/resources/blog/posts/what-is-inbound-marketing?PostId=11">What Is Inbound Marketing?</a></p>26Best Ways to Optimize Your Company's YouTube Channelhttps://www.foremostmedia.com/resources/blog/posts/best-ways-to-optimize-your-businesss-youtube-channel?PostId=1096Search Engine Optimization,Social MediaWed, 07 Sep 2016 15:56:44 GMT<p>Many people assume that Google is the world&rsquo;s largest search engine, (and they&rsquo;d be right), and many people would also assume that the second largest search engine in the world is either Bing or Yahoo, except for this time, they&rsquo;d be wrong.</p>
<p>With over a billion users, the world&rsquo;s second largest search engine is actually, YouTube.</p>
<p>According to the <a href="http://tubularinsights.com/resources/2015-b2b-video-content-marketing-survey/" rel="nofollow'">2015 Online Video Marketing Survey</a> published by the Web Video Marketing Council , &ldquo;96% of B2B organizations are engaged in video content marketing.&rdquo;</p>
<p>As the folks at Search Engine Watch so aptly put it, &ldquo;It&rsquo;s no secret that YouTube is a traffic source with almost limitless potential. There&rsquo;s only one problem: it&rsquo;s a <em>very</em> crowded place.&rdquo;</p>
<p>So how do today&rsquo;s B2B manufacturers get viewers to find and watch their YouTube videos over the competition?</p>
<p>By making sure your company&rsquo;s YouTube channel utilizes the following best practices, you can increase both the amount of traffic to your YouTube channel and the rankings for your company&rsquo;s YouTube videos.</p>
<p>
<h5>Verify Your YouTube Channel</h5>
</p>
<p>The first step in optimizing your company's YouTube channel is to make sure that your YouTube channel is verified. Visit <a href="https://www.youtube.com/verify" rel="nofollow'">https://www.youtube.com/verify</a> to begin the verification process or see if your channel is already verified.</p>
<p>
<h5>Optimize With Video Keywords</h5>
</p>
<p>Again, as Search Engine Watch so brilliantly puts it, &ldquo;ranking in YouTube is great, but ranking your video in YouTube and Google is even better.&rdquo;</p>
<p>To accomplish this, you need to begin by identifying keywords that are relevant to your video and average at least 300 searches a month. <a href="https://www.google.com/trends/" rel="nofollow'">Google Trends</a> and <a href="https://adwords.google.com/KeywordPlanner" rel="nofollow'">Google Keyword Planner</a> are both great resources you can use to help you find and identify which keywords to include in your video description, filename, title and tags.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Another great way to identify video keywords, is to perform a search for the keywords yourself to see if there are video results on the first page of the search engine results page (SERP). If you see video results on page one of the SERP for that keyword, then your video has a strong chance of ranking for that keyword as well.</p>
<p>Once you decide which keywords to focus on, it is important to include your keywords at the beginning of your descriptions (same keyword/s as title)&nbsp;</p>
<p>Including keywords that are relevant to your video content helps Google and YouTube understand what your video is about, so they can better match it to the searches performed by your prospective customers.</p>
<p>
<h5>Offer Video Content That&rsquo;s Useful To Your Target Audience</h5>
</p>
<p>Your prospective customers need to view the videos on your company's YouTube channel as more than just informative. They must also view them as a useful resource.</p>
<p>For your YouTube videos to be viewed as a useful resource by your prospective customers, your videos must answer their questions and address their concerns about your product or service, and show, not tell, how your company&rsquo;s product or service can help them accomplish what they need to be successful in their industry.</p>
<p>Ensuring that your prospective customers view your company&rsquo;s YouTube Channel as a valuable resource encourages them to subscribe to your channel and share the video with others in their industry.</p>
<p>
<h5>Share Your Videos On Social Networks And Community Building Websites</h5>
</p>
<p>Online communities are a great way to target your viewers by specific industries and direct prospective customers through your sales funnel.&nbsp;</p>
<p>YouTube&rsquo;s search algorithm evaluates videos and determines how highly to rank them based largely on user experience. Widely sharing your videos across multiple web channels, sources, and mediums will help establish and build an audience for your YouTube channel, and increase the visibility of your video content across the web.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Many YouTube users will like, comment on or subscribe to a video that they watch, but it always helps to include a section at the end of your video that reminds them to do so.</p>
<p>
<h5>Include A Compelling Call-To-Action (CTA)</h5>
</p>
<p>You may recall a TV show telling you &ldquo;don&rsquo;t touch that dial!,&rdquo; but you want your YouTube videos to do the opposite. To be effective, your company&rsquo;s videos must include a compelling call-to-action (CTA) at the end of your video that convinces your prospective customers to immediately complete your desired action, such as &ldquo;contact us&rdquo; or &ldquo;request a quote.&rdquo;</p>
<p>For more ways to optimize your company's YouTube Channel, <a href="https://www.foremostmedia.com/contact">contact us</a> today. Our team of online marketing experts can help you get the most out of your video content marketing strategy.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="/contact" class="btn btn-default btn-large">Let's Have a Conversation</a></p>
<br />
<br />
<h3>More Tips for Marketing with Video:</h3>
<p><a href="https://www.foremostmedia.com/resources/blog/posts/youtube-seo?PostId=1122">Get the Most From Your YouTube Videos</a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.foremostmedia.com/resources/blog/posts/show-your-story-gain-customers-how-using-video-can-hook-more-customers?PostId=1104">Show Your Story, Gain Customers: How Using Video Can Hook More Customers</a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.foremostmedia.com/resources/blog/posts/video-killed-the-radio-marketer-video-marketing-strategies-that-convert?PostId=1090">Video Marketing Strategies That Convert</a></p>1096LinkedIn Abandons Professional Organizationshttps://www.foremostmedia.com/resources/blog/posts/linkedin-abandons-professional-organizations?PostId=1089GeneralSocial MediaFri, 06 May 2016 18:55:00 GMT<p>I have nothing against individual freelancers in any profession, but the freelancer market is flooded with individuals who misrepresent their skill level and who are unresponsive. This is especially true in the digital marketing space. It seems that LinkedIn doesn't understand this, and prefers users to work with freelancers over professionals. </p>
<p>A week ago I received an invite for the ProFinder beta. According to the invite, this is the way it works:</p>
<p>"Through LinkedInProFinder, potential clients looking for marketers will request services they need. We'll send the relevant requests to you, and you can choose to respond with a lightweight proposal. Best of all, participation in the pilot is totally free." </p>
<p>Suffice it to say, I was excited. I like LinkedIn...a lot. I do a tremendous amount of B2B digital marketing and felt that this could help our team connect with more companies looking for help with their digital marketing and help our existing client's with their digital marketing strategies. So, I applied for the ProFinder beta. A day later, I received the following email explaining my application for the beta had been declined.</p>
<p>"Hello Nick,</p>
<p>
Thank you so much for your interest in participating in the pilot program for our new service provider marketplace, LinkedInProFinder.</p>
<p>
This new marketplace is for service providers who are either full-time freelancers or do freelance work on the side. We reviewed each profile from the perspective of a potential client and didn't feel like it was clear that you do freelance work. If you're a freelance or independent professional, we would love to include you in the pilot program and would be happy to help you with your profile so that this is clearly highlighted for potential clients.</p>
<p>
If you're a freelance or independent professional, I'd be happy to help you with your profile so that this is clearly highlighted for potential clients to see.</p>
<p>
Here are some tips on demonstrating that you're an independent professional:</p>
<ul>
<li>Use words like "freelance", "consultant", or other terms that highlight your freelance status in your headline</li>
<li>In your summary and work experience sections, describe your services and the types of clients you serve</li>
<li>Have strong recommendations from previous clients</li>
</ul>
<p>
Learn more about enhancing your LinkedIn profile to set you up for success withProFinder: link</p>
<p>
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to let me know. I'm here to help!</p>
<p>
Kind regards,</p>
<p>
Jonathan Ellison<br />
LinkedInProFinderConsultant"</p>
<p>In other words, the world's largest professional network doesn't want to help professionals connect. Instead, they want to help people doing "work on the side".</p>
<p>Wow.</p>
<p>Perhaps freelance marketers are better suited to be monetized by LinkedIn, but it seems antithetical to the purpose of the network. </p>
<p>Once again, I am not against freelancers. However, the very nature of their position does not promote quality. In most cases, if a person is doing work on the side for extra cash, it is not their primary profession. They might be good at what they do, but there's a good chance they aren't. There are no checks and balances for freelance marketers, and there are many ways of cutting corners in the digital marketing world. Unlike professional digital marketers, freelancers don't have access to the kinds of professional training, support, and education opportunities offered by larger organizations, and are therefore far less likely to be as good as a professional in their field.</p>
<p>The fact that LinkedIn is promoting a market that is more prone to be unprofessional is very upsetting. LinkedIn may be able to use the profile information to screen out freelance digital marketers who use spammy practices, but you can be sure that many spammers will find a way around this kind of screening process in no time.</p>1089Social Media Does Not Help Your SEOhttps://www.foremostmedia.com/resources/blog/posts/social-media-does-not-help-seo?PostId=39Local SEO,Search Engine Optimization,Social MediaTue, 01 Sep 2015 19:06:25 GMT<p>I hear a lot of sales people always telling business owners that social media helps their SEO. Does it? It CAN, but most of the time it won't. Let me explain.</p>
<p>SEO, or search engine optimization, has become very technical in recent years. There are hundreds of ranking factors that search engines use to determine where to rank your website, and social media qualities are not one of them. Google is the largest search engine, and the only one for the most part that ever communicates anything about its ranking signals. Three months ago at SMX Advanced, Gary Illyes from Google told us that social signals are not used at all as a ranking signal and that they would not be for the foreseeable future. In order to understand why this is, we must walk through 5 years of Google History and understand the technical aspects of social media and how it relates to SEO.</p>
<p>Here's how Google works. It has what we call "spider bots" that constantly crawl the web and digest its information. When a spider bot digests that information, it may put it in Google's "index". The index are the pages of the web that Google ranks in its search engine. Anything not indexed, will not rank for keywords or phrases. Google's mission, according to them, is to provide the best search experience for their users. In order to do this, they are always crunching data to try and determine the best "quality signals" to create the best search results. </p>
<p>What makes a good quality signal? Well, it has to improve the results by getting the user to the best answer to their query fast. This is Google's philosophy on the matter. You can start to get a feel for this by reading their <a href="https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/35769?hl=en#quality_guidelines" target="_blank">webmaster guidelines</a>. In order to improve search results, they must have reliable signals. However, the "spider bots" are unable to read the data from most social media sites, because it is often gated by a login, or requiring user permission to see information. They can get at some of it, but not all of it. Matt Cutts explains <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udqtSM-6QbQ" target="_blank">here</a>. Also, John Mueller elaborates some <a href="https://www.seroundtable.com/google-social-signals-ranking-20803.html" target="_blank">here</a>. Everything he said here was backed up by Gary Illyes in June of this year. Just so we are on the same page, I will walk you through some Google history.</p>
<p>In 2010, Matt Cutts, Google's head of web spam at the time, told us they were in fact using social signals. At the time, they had a deal with Twitter that allowed them to see the entire Twitter-sphere and get at the data. Well, in 2011 that agreement collapsed, and they no longer had access to the data. At that time, they had already spent a great deal of resources changing their ranking factors to include Twitter. During the 4 year gap on Twitter, they determined that it was just too risky of a proposition to rely on third party data they might not always have access to. Without that data, as Matt Cutts says in the video, it is an "imperfect web", and they can't use imperfect data for ranking signals.</p>
<p>It is now 2015, and Google indicated in June that social signals are not ranking factors. So, why do some still claim social media will help your SEO? Well there are three reasons. The first is that many of those people are marketers and sales people, not technical SEOs. Their lack of understanding of the technical aspects of SEO can be harmful, because the knowledge gaps can cause issues with strategy. Secondly, they confuse correlation with causation. In data science especially, it is important to understand that correlation does not always mean causation. Matt Cutts indicates specifically in the above video that this is what they are doing. This is a common mistake. Walmart has almost 33 million likes on Facebook, and they rank well in Google, so this must be a ranking signal in Google. This is not true, however there would be a strong correlation between big brands and Google ranking for other reasons. Lastly, social can help your SEO indirectly, but for many companies, it will barely make a dent. </p>
<p>So, how can social help your SEO? Well, there is no doubt that there is good marketing potential with social. After all, it gives you the ability to regularly touch a lot of people. However, as Matt Cutts said, it is treated no differently than any other website. This means you need to use social media to obtain "off-social" ranking signals. For instance, if you were to write a great article and then send it to people with blogs that you are connected with on social media, you may get some links to your website out of the deal. Since links are still important in SEO, social indirectly helped your SEO. Don't get me wrong, the links from your social accounts can potentially help your SEO. However, as most SEOs know, Google heavily diminishes the value of any links from a domain beyond the first one, so posting links on social will not really help you much. In effect, you should have an account, use it for its marketing value, and see if you can achieve some off-site ranking factors.</p>
<p>If you have an account, you may not get enough activity to ever actually achieve much in the way of SEO with it, especially if you don't have someone consistently working the account. This may be well worth it to a B2C company that sells to consumers, but less so to a B2B. In cases such as these, at least from an SEO perspective, it is important to prioritize tasks for maximum impact. In many cases if the company does not have the resources to devote to being active on social media, there are other priorities to consider SEO-wise.</p>
<p>So, are we really just talking semantics when someone claims that social will help their SEO? No. Only if you feel comfortable also saying that shaking hands will help with SEO, or that calling people on the phone will help SEO. So the next time someone tells you that social media helps your SEO, feel free to reference this article. I would be most grateful.</p>397 Ways To Optimize Your Link Building And SEO With Twitterhttps://www.foremostmedia.com/resources/blog/posts/7-ways-to-optimize-your-link-building-with-twitter?PostId=36Search Engine Optimization,Social MediaThu, 06 Aug 2015 19:50:59 GMT<p>We all know how important links are, especially for commercial websites. The problem is, sometimes we overlook the most obvious places to get them. </p>
<p>Twitter is an incredibly huge platform full of people who share in the same interests. Which means, it is an excellent opportunity for quality link building! Here are the top 7 ways to utilize Twitter for SEO to strengthen your backlink profile. </p>
<p> <strong>1) Take advantage of obvious connections.</strong> </p>
<p>Twitter makes it easy to find industry leaders and influencers in any market. The key is to observe these people and pay attention to the content they share. Tweet at them and begin to build a conversation. Over time, this turns into a connection and before you know it, a link back to your site! Acquiring links happens by making friends or making news. Utilize current relationships to build quick links and discover who your competitors are.</p>
<p> <strong>2) Draw them in with content.</strong> </p>
<p>Build a list of connections and create a community or area that you want to target on Twitter. Research their sites and the people following them. Once you feel you have a true understanding of their niche, create very specific content and tweet to them. An eBook or whitepaper would be a great example of this. Ask these connections for any advice or recommendations. Just think, better content means better links. </p>
<p> <strong>3) Develop a strong connection.</strong></p>
<p> Once you have made a connection with your target audience, (you follow them and they follow you, you are tweeting and re-tweeting), try to be helpful. When they post a question, offer your professional advice or offer a recommendation as to where they can find the solution. People remember random acts of kindness. </p>
<p> <strong>4) Tell a story.</strong></p>
<p> Spend a little extra time developing a directional piece of content such as a series. Include quotes from industry leaders. People involved or included will want to share and link. Create content that people will want to read and will gravitate to. This is a situation where name-dropping is totally acceptable and tagging is even better. Then spend time tweeting, retweeting and responding to comments. Interact with as many people as you can. The stronger your connection, the easier it is to ask them to share your link.</p>
<p> <strong>5) Make recommendations.</strong></p>
<p>In order to do this, you must first have developed relationships. Once you have, look for interesting content regarding a topic pertaining to them they may have missed and suggest it to them. Not only does this build your credibility but it also creates an opportunity for relationship building and you guessed it, requesting a link. </p>
<p> <strong>6) Build up content. </strong></p>
<p>Build up great content to answer a question. Create "Best of" lists, or "Top 10 Recommendations," include blogs, videos, whitepapers, etc. Offer this helpful information to connections to drive links and engage in conversations.</p>
<p> <strong>7) "Kill them with kindness." </strong></p>
<p>Who doesn't love a compliment? Companies and people alike love hearing positive reviews. Write a testimonial or review about a particular company or product, then tweet at them and let them know it exists. Or send a tweet letting a company know if they would ever like a testimonial you would be happy to write one. This most likely will end in them following you or your testimonial will go on their site and you get a link. </p>
<br />
<br />
<h3>More Marketing Tips for Social Media:</h3>
<p><a href="https://www.foremostmedia.com/resources/blog/posts/using-twitter-to-promote-your-business?PostId=1075">Using Twitter to Promote Your Business</a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.foremostmedia.com/resources/blog/posts/b2b-tips-for-twitter?PostId=1058">B2B Tips for Twitter</a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.foremostmedia.com/resources/blog/posts/facebook-b2b-advertising-comes-of-age?PostId=1115">Using Facebook for B2B Marketing</a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.foremostmedia.com/resources/blog/posts/staying-ahead-of-the-seo-game?PostId=1066">Integrate E-Mail Marketing with Social Engagement</a></p>36Facebook Announces New Bluetooth Beacon Program: Ideal For Local Businesseshttps://www.foremostmedia.com/resources/blog/posts/facebook-announces-new-bluetooth-beacon-program-ideal-for-local-businesses?PostId=30Social MediaWed, 10 Jun 2015 21:08:18 GMT<p>Facebook just released the launch of their new Facebook Bluetooth Beacon Program. </p>
<p>In the beginning of 2015, Facebook introduced Place Tips. Local businesses use Place Tips for their brick and mortar locations to market to their visitors. Upon check-in or via activated location settings, visitors receive information from the business.</p>
<p>Restaurants use Place Tips as a great opportunity to display their current menu, signature drinks, reviews and more. Retailers are able to advertise specials, product locations and even business hours to customers as they enter their store. Facebook says local business' Facebook page traffic from Place Tips has been steadily growing from in-store visitors. </p>
<p>Rather than using WiFi, the new Beacon Program will utilize Bluetooth technology to signal the Facebook App on a visitor's phone. Businesses will receive their free beacon in the mail, turn it on and place it in a centralized location. As of right now, Facebook has only introduced this new feature to a few businesses, but are now allowing businesses to request a beacon. </p>
<div class="stack-horiz"><img alt="Engaging Visitors image" src="/portals/0/images/resources/blog/engage-people.jpg" style="width: 683px; height: 356px;" /></div>
<p>If you are interested in learning more about this new program, or for help requesting a beacon, contact us <a href="/contact">today</a>!</p>30[Infographic] Where to Look For Your Target Markethttps://www.foremostmedia.com/resources/blog/posts/infographic-where-to-look-for-your-target-market?PostId=24GeneralSocial MediaMon, 16 Feb 2015 15:29:21 GMT<p>Today, most of us are aware of the growing role that Social Media plays in bringing brands and customers closer together. As the world becomes increasingly interconnected, online marketing is yet another contender in the battle for your customer's attention. Even if you have a Social Media strategy in place to try to reach your target market, it can still be especially difficult for B2B businesses to know where to start on Social Media. But as Mitch Joel, President of Mirum, wisely points out, "on the internet, you have to be where the customer is". So how can you know where your customers are? (After all, the internet is usually anything but straightforward). By taking a look at our handy new infographic, that's how!</p>
<div class="stack-horiz"><a href="http://ctt.ec/eOb0l" target="_blank"><img alt="" src="/portals/0/images/resources/blog/where-the-customer-is-tweet.png" /></a></div>
<p>Aptly named, "Where to Look for Your Target Market", it shows which age groups, genders, and industries use sites such as Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Twitter the most. According to the infographic, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter are the top three social media sites for B2B businesses, whereas Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter are ideal for B2C businesses. Instagram is great for reaching customers within the 18-24 and 30-49 age groups, but the 50+ age group prefers Pinterest instead. LinkedIn and Twitter are also better for targeting the male demographic, while Pinterest and Instagram great for a female target audience. Despite the varying usage percentages, Facebook is the most used Social Media site in each of the categories shown on the infographic. </p>
<p>With this knowledge, you can determine which sites are best suited for reaching your niche or mass audience. This, in turn, allows you to build a direct relationship with your customers and boost your chances of customers engaging with your brand. And just when you thought we couldn't make it any easier on you marketers out there, we've also included a checklist of <a href="/portals/0/documents/resources/blog/sm-checklist.pdf" target="_blank">9 Tips to Get Started with Social Media</a>. Which offers great direction for developing and implementing a Social Media strategy for your business.</p>
<div class="stack-horiz"><img alt="" src="/portals/0/images/resources/blog/target-market.jpg" /></div>
<br />
<br />
<h3>More Target Marketing Tips:</h3>
<p><a href="https://www.foremostmedia.com/resources/blog/posts/how-to-write-content-for-your-manufacturing-website-to-increase-conversions?PostId=1094">How To Write Content for Your Manufacturing Website to Increase Conversions</a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.foremostmedia.com/resources/blog/posts/the-benefits-of-pay-per-click-marketing?PostId=1107">The Benefits of Pay-Per-Click Marketing</a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.foremostmedia.com/resources/blog/posts/design-email-campaigns-that-get-results-10-tips-and-tricks-to-maximize-success?PostId=1124">10 Tips to Design Email Campaigns That Get Results</a></p>24The Biggest Mistake You're Making On Pinteresthttps://www.foremostmedia.com/resources/blog/posts/the-biggest-mistake-youre-making-on-pinterest?PostId=15Social MediaWed, 12 Nov 2014 17:38:29 GMT<p>As a business on Pinterest, it can be difficult to determine what is best to pin to your boards. It is important to not only pin content from your own website, but to also repin and interact with your followers. It is not hard to find interesting things to repin on Pinterest, but....are you pinning good content?</p>
<p>Too often pins are linking to misleading content. There is nothing worse for a Pinterest user than trying to find the recipe that is described in a pin and then being sent somewhere else after clicking on the link. Many pins will also describe interesting content in the description, but then link to a site that just tries to get user information.</p>
<p>Below is an example of a recipe pin that links to the home page of a blog. Pins that link to content like this are confusing and frustrating for users.</p>
<div class="stack-horiz"><img alt="Pin and Webpage" src="/portals/0/images/resources/blog/bad-pin.jpg" style="width: 683px; height: 461px;" /></div>
<p>As a business on Pinterest, it is important to take the time to click through every pin you share with your followers to ensure you are going to be sending users to useful and relevant websites.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3 style="letter-spacing: normal;">More Pinterest Tips:</h3>
<p style="letter-spacing: normal;"><a href="https://www.foremostmedia.com/resources/blog/posts/the-first-5-things-every-business-needs-to-do-on-pinterest?PostId=13">5 Things Every Business Needs to Do On Pinterest</a><br />
<a href="https://www.foremostmedia.com/resources/blog/posts/are-you-getting-the-most-from-your-pinterest-account?PostId=1059" style="background-color: #ffffff; letter-spacing: 0px;">Are You Getting the Most From Your Pinterest Account?</a></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>15The First 5 Things Every Business Needs to do on Pinteresthttps://www.foremostmedia.com/resources/blog/posts/the-first-5-things-every-business-needs-to-do-on-pinterest?PostId=13Social MediaThu, 23 Oct 2014 19:40:00 GMT<h2>5 Things Your Business Needs to do to get Started on Pinterst</h2>
<p>Make sure the you take the following first steps when setting up your Pinterest business account to ensure you are getting the most benefit out of your account.</p>
<ol>
<li><strong>Set up a business account. </strong>Create your Pinterest account and make sure that you are registering as a business; this will provide you with more options to analyze the data and take advantage of the account. Create your business account <a href="http://business.pinterest.com/" target="_blank">here</a>.</li>
<li><strong>Add the "Pin It" button to your site. </strong>Adding a "Pin It" button to your site will encourage website visitors to pin your products or content to their boards and will help increase exposure.</li>
<li><strong>Verify your site with Pinterest. </strong>Once you've set up your Pinterest business account you will have the option to "Verify" your website. This requires you to add a meta tag to your website in order to verify that you are the owner of the site. Once this is completed, you will have access to analytic data through Pinterest that will show you, in detail, which pins are performing the best, how much traffic your website is getting and much more.</li>
<li><strong>Create 4 - 5 initial boards. </strong>Start out your profile by creating four of five boards that include a wide variety of items. Do not solely focus on your products or services. Add one or two boards showcasing your products, include a board that represents your company culture, and create two or three other boards that feature pins your target market will be interested in (Inspirational Quotes, Humor, Tips, etc.). </li>
<li><strong>Complete all data. </strong>Be sure to completely fill out your company description as well as board descriptions. This information will influence the number of searches your brand will show up in.</li>
</ol>
<br />
<br />
<h3>More Pinterest Tips:</h3>
<p><a href="https://www.foremostmedia.com/resources/blog/posts/the-biggest-mistake-youre-making-on-pinterest?PostId=15">The Biggest Mistake You're Making on Pinterest</a><br />
<a href="https://www.foremostmedia.com/resources/blog/posts/are-you-getting-the-most-from-your-pinterest-account?PostId=1059" style="font-family: roboto-light, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: 0px; background-color: #ffffff;">Are You Getting the Most From Your Pinterest Account?</a></p>13